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Appeared on: Wednesday, January 04, 2012
New Networked Audio Players by Pioneer

Pioneer today expanded its family of networking devices with the release of two new Elite branded networked audio players.

Both the N-30 ($499) and N-50 ($699) are equipped with AirPlay and DLNA 1.5 wireless technologies, offering music lovers access to their music stored in a variety of different sources. The audio players also feature vTuner Internet radio, iPhone and Android control apps and a 2.5-inch full-color LCD display.

The N-30 and N-50 systems share a number of today's popular network-enabled music programs. Both players are AirPlay-compatible, enabling consumers to listen to music saved in their iTunes library as well as access to music available on AirPlay-enabled apps like PANDORA Internet radio, iHeartRadio and other music streaming services. The N-30 and N-50 are both "Made for iPad, iPhone and iPod" for music playback and charging. Their DLNA 1.5 Certification enables consumers to stream music from a computer or other DLNA 1.5 server via a home network.

To connect either system to a wireless network when a direct Ethernet connection is not available, Pioneer offers the AS-WL300 optional wireless LAN converter (sold separately). The networked audio players also feature wireless Bluetooth (optional Bluetooth adapter AS-BT200 required) transfer of audio content from any A2DP Bluetooth wireless enabled mobile device or personal computer. When users want an alternative from their own music library, both systems are equipped with vTuner Internet radio to access the more than 16,000 Internet radio stations around the world.

These systems enable playback of standard compressed audio formats including MP3, WMA and AAC. Through DLNA 1.5, both units feature high-resolution audio playback which can support 192kHz/24-Bit FLAC and WAV files that are now available from a number of Internet sites. AirPlay functionality provides Apple?s Lossless audio with no degradation in sound quality when listening to music encoded in its native high-resolution format. A full-color 2.5" LCD screen built into both systems displays the album art and song information of currently playing music. For added convenience, users can control their music via ControlApp, a free app that is available for the iPod touch, iPhone and iPad as well as select Android devices.

In the upper model N-50, Pioneer included an armored chassis to resist noise and gold RCA jacks for better audio connections. The N-50 also comes with additional audio features including Advanced Sound Retriever and Sound Retriever AIR that enhance the audio quality of compressed audio files, delivering near-CD quality from portable media players, Internet radio and Bluetooth audio transmissions.

For higher quality audio output, the N-50 features twin EL transformers to reduce interference and a Hi-Bit 32-Bit conversion processor. Users with electronics devices with older or inefficient DACs can take advantage of the N-50's DAC Only Mode.